2025 CSM Confidential Report
How the SaaS industry’s customer success managers feel about their roles, skills, and career paths in 2025—and how leaders can help them grow.
How do CSMs feel about their customer success careers?
Your CSMs are dedicated drivers of your customers’ goals and your company’s growth. But how much do
you know about their own goals for growth—and how can you support them?
It might not surprise you to learn that CSMs are ambitious. They want a clear career path and the
opportunity to grow. But, in 2025’s SaaS economy, a direct path to career advancement isn’t easy to provide.
The 2025 CSM Confidential Report focuses on how CSMs really feel about their career goals and aspirations, with actionable, expert commentary on how to retain your top performers and nurture their growth.
What CSMs appreciate—or don’t—about their roles in 2025.
The good news.
Most CSMs are happy in their day-to-day role. Only one in four CSMs expressed dissatisfaction.
CSMs love working with their customers and teams. Most respondents say they enjoy getting to know their customers (87%) and helping them solve problems (86%).
80% of CSMs say they appreciate their team, and nearly seven in 10 say they like and appreciate their manager.
CSMs have big aspirations. Nearly half of CSMs (45%) aspire to leadership roles and a further 16% aspire to a specialist CS role like customer success operations. Just 21% say their current CSM role is where they would prefer to be this time next year.
The bad news.
CSMs worry about their career paths. 53% of respondents say their employer does not have a “clear and achievable career path” for CSMs. Only one-third of respondents (35%) feel like their employer is invested in their career.
Most CSMs will leave to get ahead. Nearly six in 10 indicated they will leave their current company if they find a better opportunity. A further 27% were “neutral” on this question.
CSMs want and need more training. While 52% say they have the tools and training to accomplish their goals, most say their training opportunities are limited to online classes or ad hoc coaching. Their biggest pain point: sales and negotiation skills.
Sales teams get the glory, not CSMs. 59% of CSMs say their employer values the sales team more than the CS team. Just 6% say the opposite.
Featured data from the report
How happy are CSMs in 2025?
This year, 58% of CSMs surveyed say they’re very happy or somewhat happy in their roles, with a further 16% feeling neutral. 25% say they’re somewhat unhappy or very unhappy in their role.
What should customer leaders be concerned about?
Less than half of CSMs (41%) say they have a realistic schedule and workload in 2025, while just 38% say they can complete their work without staying late or working on weekends. Meanwhile, just 35% feel that their manager and company are invested in their career path.
What are CSMs’ career goals, and how realistic are they?
Nearly half of CSMs (45%) aspire to grow into leadership roles. However, only 26% of CSMs say that their company has a clear and achievable career path for customer success managers.
Coupled with the fact that a majority of CSMs (58%) say they’re likely or very likely to leave their role should the opportunity present itself, this is a warning sign for companies worried about employee turnover and its downstream effects on the customer experience.
Download the full report for expert advice on how to bridge the gap with meaningful growth opportunities.
CSMs need training to hit their goals. Are you providing it?
The good news: half of CSMs (52%) say their organizations provide enough support, training and tools to reach their goals. The bad news: 13% say they’ve received no training at all in the last 12 months.
Why do CSMs feel less valued than their sales colleagues?
This year, we asked CSMs whether their company values customer success more, less, or the same as sales. Nearly six in 10 respondents (59%) feel like their sales team is more valued than their customer success team.
We followed this with an optional, open-ended question asking why. To find out what CSMs had to say, download your copy of the 2025 CSM Confidential report today.
Inside, you’ll find:
- What’s motivating, frustrating, and inspiring your CSM team this year, and what to do about it.
- How to nurture and upskill your CSMs into revenue-driving future leaders.
- Expert advice from experts Colby Bock, Sabina Pons, Swati Garg, Naomi Aiken, and Kristen Hayer.